THE 


OATH    OF  ALLEGIANCE 


:o  ike 


UNITED     STATES, 


DISCUSSED   IX  J[TS 


MORAL  AND  POLITICAL  BEARINGS. 


By   Rev'.   B.    M.    PALMER,   D.  D. 


LATE   OF   NEW    ORLEANS. 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE    SOLDIERS'    TRACT   ASSOCIATION 
CHURCH,  SOUTH. 


r  M.  E.  I 


RICdMONP:      * 

Macsarlak-e  &  Fergusson, 
•       1868 

r#2B 


I 


The  Duties  o.nd  Obligations  of  those  Cftizens  of  the  Confederate 
States  falling  within  the  lines  of  the  enemy  discussed,  in  their  Mo- 
ral and  Political  Bearings,  with  particular  reference  to  the  atroci- 
ties-practiced by  Gen.  Butler  in  New  Orleans,  in  a  lettej:  addrdfesed 
to  the  Hon.  John  Perkins,  of  Louisiana,  upon  the  introduction  of 
the  following  resolutions  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  commending 
those  persons  who  refused  to  take  the  oath.  By  Rev*.  B.  M.  Palmer, 
D.  D.,  late  of  New  Orleans. 

Joint  Resolutions  in  commendation  of  the  eonduct  of  those  citi» 
aens  of  Louisiana  and  other  States  who,  falling  within  the  lines 
of  the  enemy,  have  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 

#  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  Congress  views  with  pride  the  course  pursued  by 
the  true  men  and  women  of  the  Confederacy,  who,  falling  within 
the  lines  of  the  enemy,  have  resisted  all  appeals  to  their  pecuniary 
interest  and  refused,  in  spite  of  pains  and  penalties,  to  foreswear 
their  o  vn  government  by  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  support 
that  o(  the  United  States,  and  regards  with  peculiar  satisfaction  the 
conduct  of  those  citizens  of  Louisiana,  who,  by  refusing  the  oath 
and  openly  registering  themselves  enemies  to  the  United  States  in 
the  immediate  presence  and  in  defiance  of  General  Butler's  mili- 
tary authorities,  have  borne  most  nob^  testimony  by  their  martyr- 
like courage  to  the  patriotic  spirit  and  Christian  faith  of  oiu  people. 

•  Resolved,  That  while  such  conduct  has  secured  them  the  present 
respect  and  sympathy  of  all  good  people,  it  will  be  esteemed,  in 
the  future,  a  most  honorable  claim  upon  the  gratitude  of  their  coun- 
try, and  the  highest  evidence  of  their  devotion  to  truth  and  princi- 
ple. 


The  Oath  of  Allegiance  to  the  United  Stales, 


Columbia,  S%C./Feby  10,  1863. 

Hon.  JOHN   PERKINS: 

Mij  Tbear  Sir— -The  joint  resolutions  submitted  by 
you  on  the  13th  of  January,  for  die  consideration  of  Con- 
gress, "in  commendation  t>f. certain  citizens  of  Louisiana  and 
of  other  States  within  the  lines  of  the  enemy  in  refusing-  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance"  to  the  United  States,"  have  re- 
cently passed  under  my -eye.  The  impulse  eannot  be  resisted 
of  addressing  to  you  some  reflections  which  have  long  been 
maturing  in  my  own  mind,  and  which  you  are  at  liberty  to 
use  in  any  wa}T  you  may  think  conducive  to  the  public  good. 
Permit  me,  in  the  outset,  to  express  my  approval,  not  only, 
of  the  matter,  but  also  of  the  form  of  j7our  resolutions.  It 
appears- to  me  eminently  proper  that  Congress  should  signa- 
lize the  fidelity  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  have  withstood  all 
appeals  to  self  interest  and  to  fear,  in  their  country's  darkest 
trial.  But  I  specially  commend  the  moderation  which  pre- 
termits in  the  resolutions  any  mention  of  those  who  have  been 
caught  in  the  snares  of  the  enemy,  and  duped  into  conces- 
sions which  have  filled  the  land  with  sorrow.  So  long  as  these 
unfortunate  parties  are  debarred  the  privilege  of  a  hearing — 
the  government,  from  paternal. "lenjty,  if  not  from  a  sense  of 
rigid  justice,  may  well -feel  itself  restrained  from  open  and 
direct  censure.  From  the  language  of  your  paper,  the  world 
is  not  to  know  that  a  solitary  individual  is  excepted  from  the 
encomium  pronounced  by  Congress.     Those  familiar  with  nil 


the  facts  cannot  fail,  indeed,  to  perceive  a  discrimination  in 
favor  of  some,  which,  by  implication,  contains  a  censure  of 
others.  This,  however,  is  unavoidable,  and  those  who  may 
writhe  beneath  the  torture  of  this  implied  censure,  will  yet 
be  compelled  to  admire  the  generosity  which  forebore. to  stig- 
matize them  in  the  legislative  records  of  the  country.  Nev- 
ertheless, from  some  quarter,  and  precisely  at  this  juncture, 
a  protest  should  be  uttered  against  the  weakness  of  those  who 
have  succumbed  beneath  the  tyranny  of  Gen.  Butler,  and 
sworn  allegiance  to  the  government  of  the  "United  States.  It 
may  not  be  too  late  to  rouse  those  who  are  involved  in  this 
*dire  calamity  to  retrieVe  their  lost  position,  and  to  wipe  off 
'  the  dishonor  which  must  else  cleave  to  ^hem  forever.  Or, 
iailing  in  this,  it  is  still  a  duty  to  attempt  the  arrest  of  prin- 
ciples whkh,  I  fear,  are  secretly  sapping  in  Louisiana,  the 
foundations  of  pubJio  morality,  and  destroying  the  basis  on 
which  rest  at  last  the  permanence  and  security  of  all  govern- 
ment. '  I  undertake,  therefore,  in  this  letter,  to  present  the 
reverse  of  your. medal,  and  assume  the  painful  responsibility 
of  giving  utterance  to  strictures,  from  which,  as  a  legislator, 
you  have  wisely  refrained.  Should  apology  be  needed  for 
this  obtrusion  of  private  criticism,  let  it  be  found  in  the  rela- 
tion I  have  long  sustained  as  a  religious  teacher  to  the  people 
of  Louisiana,  and  my  common  participation  as  a  citizen  in 
any  approach  which  may  tarnish  the  fame  of  that  gallant 
State. 

.  We  should  clearly  distinguish  betwixt  two  classes  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  who  have  submitted  to  the  oath  exacted  by 
Gen.  Butler.  The  first  class,  inconsiderable  both  as  to  num- . 
bers  and  influence,  embraces  those  who  were  never  'true'  to 
our  cause.  *  Some  of  them,  from  misconception  of  the  rela- 
tion between  the  States  and  the  general 'government,  secretly 


denied  the  right  of  secession,  and  simply  drifted  -with  the 
popular  current  which  they  felt  it  fdle  to  oppose.  Of  course,  ■ 
upon  the  first  appearance  of  the  enemy,  they  ranged  them, 
selves,  without  solicitation,  upon  the  side  of  the  Union,  to 
which  they  were  borne  by  their  political  affinities.  Others 
destitute  of  all  principle,  alike  political  and  moral,  having  no 
eye  but  to  present  gain,  and  only  intent  upon  opening  the  ob- 
structed channels  of  trade,  chose  to  make  interest  with  those 
who  had  blocked  their  ports.  Both  these  are  simply  traitors 
to  the  South— they  went  out  from  us  because  they  were  not  # 
of  us — and  it  is  "to  be  hoped,  upon  the  recovery  of  our  terri- 
tory, they  will  find' it  convenient  to  leave  with  their  new  allies 
and  purge  our  society  of  their  presence.  The  other  classes 
embraces  those  who,  in  their  secret  hearts,  are  still  loyal*  to 
the  Confederacy,  and  have  taken  the  oath  under  constraint, 
regarding  it  as  one  of  the  necessities  of  war.  The  universal 
compaseion  felt  for  their  distress  has  almost  extinguished  cen- 
sure of  the  act-  -Avhilst  the  conviction  entertained  of  their 
substantial  loyalty  retains  them  within  the  embrace  of  our 
affection's.  The  general  integrity  of  many  in  this  class  af- 
fords a  guarantee  that  conscience  has  been  snared  through 
the  sophistry  of  the  understanding;  and  that  by  subtlety  of 
argument  they  have  been  persuaded  into  the  belief  that  the 
rjafh  could  be  taken  salra  fide.  In  adjudicating  this  ques- 
tion, I  caunot  but  think  some  considerations  were  overlooked, 
which  should  have  formed  an  element  ifi  the  decision  to  be 
rendered,  and,  which,  if  entertained  must  have  wholly  chang- 
ed its  complexion.  •  » 

Before  canvassing,  however,  the  grounds  upon  which  this 
oath-taking  has  been  justified,  that  we  may  make  due  allow- 
ance for  rruinan  infirmity,  let  us  look  at  the  peculiar  pressure 
under  which  these  parties  were  put.     Tn  the  first  place,  the 


demand  made  upon  tlieni  xvoa  a  novelty.;  and  we  all  know  how 
men  flounder  in  uncertainty  without  acknowledged  precedents 
for  their  guidance.  1  liave  .in  vain  Searched  the  records  of 
modern  history  for  its  -parallel.  The  famous  contest  between 
Philip  of  Spain  and  the  States  pf  Holland  presents  some  fea- 
tures of  resemblance  to  the  conflict  now  waging  between  the 
North  and  ourselves.  -The  Spanish  power  then,  as  the  North 
does  now,  branded  the  attempt  of  a  brave  people  to  frame 
their  own- constitution  and  laws  as  flagrant  rebellion;- and 
condrfecl  a  long  and  bitter  war  to  reduce,  as  they  alleged,  a 
revolted  province  to  allegiance.  But  in  no  instance  "did  the 
cruel  Alva — fitting  tool  though  he  was  of  a  treacherous  and 
bigoted  despot,  force  a  reluctant  oath  upon  the  cit.ies-which 
he  conquered.  They  were  held,  indeed,  by  military  garrisons 
until  such  time  as  the  State  of  which  they  formed  a  constitu- 
ent part  should  in  like  manner  be  reduced.  JNe  attempt  was 
made  to  cancel. their  tics  of  allegiance  but  through  the  con- 
stituted authorities  to  whom  that  allegiance  had  been  sworn. 
It  has  been  reserved  to  our  time  and  to  our  foes  to, invent  the 
shameful  and  cowardly  device  of  dealing  with  single  cojnmu- 
nhies,  and  even  with  individual- persons,  as  if  they  were  in- 
dependent of  higher  authority.  A-  magnanimous  enemy 
.might  have  held  New  Orleans  oy  right  of  capture;  but  would 
Jiave  refrained  from  the' imposition  of  oaths  until  the  Stat<! 
of  Louisiana  had  bejm  reduced  to  submission,  and  as  an  or- 
ganic whole,  had  carried  over  all  the  parts  of  which'  it  is  com- 
posed. But  the  refined  despotism  of  the  Lincoln  government 
adopts  the  policy  of  grinding. individuals  between  conflicting: 
jurisdictions  as  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones. 
Conscious  of  its  impotence  to  subjugate,  it  has  been  satisfied 
with  disgracing  those  whom  it  cannot  conquer,  and  with  de- 
moralizing those;  over  whom  it  cannot  rule.     The  satanic 


boast  of  GerK  Butler  has  been  in  parfc*  achieved  of  holding 
up  what  he  is  pleased  to  term  a  perjured  people  to  the  deri- 
sion of  mankind.  I  shall  recur  to  this  thought  in  another 
connection,  and  present  it  as  a  reason  why  the  oath  should 
have  been  sternly  refused.  It  is  mentioned  here  only  to  show 
how  our  people  were  surprised  in  the  historic  novelty  of  their 
position;  and  how  they  were  subjected  to  a  rigor  of  treat- 
ment unknown  to  the  worst  despotisms  of  the  past. 

•  In  the  next  place  the  craft  by  which  this  nefarious  design 
was  accomplished,  does  full  credi#to  the  subtlety  ami  malice 
in  which  it  was  conceived.  Butler's  tyranny  opened  with  a 
prohibition  against  more  than  three  persons  speftkme:  together 
upon  the- streets,  wider  the  penalty  ef  being  dispersed  as  a 
mob;  the  effect  of  whicX.was  to  insulate  individuals* and  to 
prevent  that  interchange  of  views  necessary  to  concert  of  ac- 
tion. A  system  of  espionage,  most  comprehensive  in  its 
sweep,  was  moreover  immediately  instituted;  so  that  you  could 
not  look  your  fellow  in  the  face,  lest  the  flash  of  the  eye 
should  betray  to  a  paid  informer,  the  secret  resentment  of  the 
goul.  Even  slaves  of  the  household  were  suborned  under 
promises  of  personal  freedom^  to  invent  charges  against  the 
nssteiywhicli  subjected  him  fb  examination  and  search,  ac- 
companied with  brutal  and  insulting  threats.*  With  the  poi-  - 
son  of  suspicion  thus  universally  diffused,  the  infirmity  of 
many  yielded  to  external  -pressure,  as-  single-handed  and 
alone,  they  were  either  bullied  or  cajoled  into  a  form  of  sub- 
n  denied  by  tfie  heart  as  often  as  it  was  sworn  by  the 
But  the  catalogue  of  wrongs  is  only  begun.  Placing  his 
mailed  hand  next  upon  the  separate  guilds  into  which  society 
is  classiiied,  and  resorting  at  once  to  the  arts  of  special  plead- 
ing-and  to  the  display  of  irresponsible  power,  he' extorted  mi- 
from  each  of  these — yielded  in  the  vain  hope 


10 

that  this  would  be  the  end  of  their  humiliation*— but  which, 
though  small,  were  sufficient  to  break  the  tone  of  a"  spirited 
people.  "  C  est  le  premier  pas  qui  coute;"  when  the  veil  of 
delusion  was  rent  by  th«  imposition  of  further  'tests,  they  m 
found  themselves  upon  an  inclined  plane,  wliich  had  no  rest- 
ing place  but  in  abject  submission.  Nothing  was  left  but 
consistency  in  error  and  the  melancholy  confession  at  the  last, 
"pas  a  pas  on  va  Men  loin."  Thus  craftily  were  our  unhap- 
py fellow-citizens  decoyed  into  the  oath  from  which,  at  the 
beginning,  they  recoiled  w%h  the  indignant  exclamation  of 
Hazael,  "What!  is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this 
great  thing^" 

The  darkest  feature,  however,  in  .'this  oppression,  is  found 
in  the  mdefined  terrors  which  hung  like  a  portentuous  cloud 
over  this  devoted  people;  terrors,  too,  of  such,  a  nature  as 
gloomily  to  impress  the  imagination  and  freeze  the  soul  with 
horror.  The  infamous  order,  No.  28,  was  not,  as  usually  in- 
terpreted, the  outburst  of  a  brutal  and  savage  nature  in  a 
moment  of  resentment;  but  part  of  a  premeditated  system  to 
strike, universal  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  community.  The 
blow  was  threatened  just  where  the  affections  are  most  sensi- 
tive; and  the  violation  of  the* sweetest  sanctities  of  home  x#is 
set  forth  as  i\fb  penalty  of  resistance  to  the  tyrant's  will. 
Though  directed  in  form  against  the  women  of  Louisiana,  its 
'  evident  design  was  to  reach  through  them  their  intractable 
guardians  of  the  other  sex.  The  husband  and  the  father 
were  called  to  look  upon  their  imprisoned  households,  and 
then  to  survey  the  hounds  of  the  despot  by  whom  they  were 
held  at  bay.  A  licentious  soldiery  drawn  from  the  scum  of 
Northern  society,  the  agragrian  element  always  to  be  found 
in  the  mixed  population  of  a  large  city,  and  the  drunken  he- 
lots just  emancipated  from  bondage  and  tricked  out  in  the 


11 

toggery  of  their  new  associates — these  were  held  in  the  leash 
to  be  let  loose-  to  sack  and  plunder  at  their  will,  and  to  gratify 
the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart.  Doubtlesaihese  fears 
were,  to  a  large  extent  imaginary;  for  they  were  never  real- 
ized by  those  who  openly  defied  the  tyrant's  power,  who  seem-, 
ed  rather  to  amuse  himself  with  playing  upon  the  fears  of 
and  with  imposing  tests  of  their  moral  courage,  and  with 
mocking  those  w^o  faltered  and  trembled  under  nis  frown. 
But  though  imaginary,  they  were  nevertheless  effective.  Our 
people*  appeared  to  feel  as  though  the  earth  was  heaving  be- 
neath their  tread,  and  that,  in  a  single  moment,  they  might 
go  down  together  through  the  parted  crust.  These  nameless, 
formless  horrors,  presented  by  a  morbid  fancy,  with  the  desire 
to  preserve  their  property  from  confiscation,  combined  to  crush 
the  spirit  of  a  people  as  noble  as  any  beneath  the  sun.  My 
heart,  sir,  alternately  burns  with  auger  and  bleeds  in  sympa- 
thy as  I  contemplate  these  accumulated  wrongs,  which  are 
recited  with  no  design  to  apologize  for  the^oath,  but  to  show 
that  the  censure  levelled  against  it  proceeds  from  no  insensi- 
bility to  the  distress  by  which  it  was  coerced.  The  same  ten- 
derness which  weeps  over  the  sorrows  of  our  friends,  pleads 
with  themlo  retrieve  the  still  heavier  disaster  of  a  dishonor- 
ed name. 

It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  all  were  conducted  to  this  fa- 
tal step  by  precisely  the  same  line  of  argument.  According- 
ly, we  find  it  justified  upon  two  grounds  which  are  not  only 
distinct  from,  but  even  exclusive  of  each,  as  the  attention 
happened  to  be  fixed  upon  one  or  the  other  horn  of  a  com- 
mon dilemma.  The  difficulty  was  how  to  take  the  oath  with- 
out surrendering,  on  the  one  hand,  a  conscious  loyalty  to  the 
Confederacy,  and  retaining,  on  the  other  hand,  something  like 
integrity  of  conscience.     The   path  wai;  too  narrow  to  allow 


the  slightest  deflection- without  plunging  into  one- or  the  other 
of  these  two  quicksands.  .  Some  determined  to  preserve  their 
interest  in  the  country  which  they  loved,  even  at  the  expense 
•  of  truth;  others,  to  maintain  veracity  at  the  hazard  of  cloud- 
ing with  suspicion  their  civil  fidelity.  Let  us  examine  both 
expedients  in  detail. 

I  It  is  alleged,  then,  by  the  first  of  these  two  glasses,  that 
'being  without  liberty  of  choice,  in  the  hands  of  an  unscru- 
pulous and  barbarous  enemy,  it  was  lawful  to  swear  an  oath 
With  the  lips'  to  which  the  heart  gave  no  response ;  that  no 
faith  was  to  be  placed  in  an  oath  exacted  upon  compulsion, 
and  .accordingly  it  might  be  taken  with  a  mental  reservation 
to  break  it  so  soon  as  opportunity  should  be. afforded  of  doing- 
it  with  safety.  The  case  .  is  considered  parallel  with  an  oath 
of  secresy  exacted  by  a  footpad  with  his  stiletto  at  our  throat 
which  it  is  alleged  might  be  given  with  the  firm  but  secret 
purpose  of  bringing  the  outlaw  to  justice  as  soon  as  we  should 
be  once  more  within  the  protection  of  society  and  law.  I  be- 
lieve I  have  stated  the  argument  in  its  utmost  strength.  The 
oath,  say  they,  was  taken,  but  under,  circumstances,  which 
2;ave  ^he  imposer  no  confidence  in  the  fidelity  of  the  party 
sworn,  and  absolved  the  latter  from  all  obligation  to  abide  by 
his  pledge.*  It  were  far  better,  to -let  this  oath  pass  Without 
defence  than  to  justify  it  by  u  doctrine  so  desolating. in  its 
consequences.  The  apparent,  or  even  the  real  apostacy  of 
many  thousands  from  our  ranks,  cannot  inflict  so  severe  ov 
lasting. a  shock  upon  the  .Confederacy  as  the  promulgation  of 
principles  like  these.  We  are  all  willing,  in  a  superabundant 
charity,  to  forgive, the  weakness,  of  those  who  have  fallen  un- 
der the  cruel  oppressions  which  I  have  already  described ; 
but  we  cannot  permit  that  weakness  to  be  extolled  into  a  vir- 
tue, nor  to  be  extenuated  uj.on   grounds  subversive   alike  of 


lo 

morality  ami  religion.  What  is  an  oath,  but  au  appeal  to  the 
omniscient  God  as  a  witi  he  truth  "whereof  we  affirm? 

In  this  consists  the  essence  of  the  sin  of  perjury;  that  "the 
juror  has  the  thought  of  (Tod  and  religion  upon  his  mind  at 
the  time,  so  that -if  he  offeitds,  it  is  in  defiance  of  th-c  sanc- 
tions of  religion,  and  implies  a  disbelief  or  contempt  of  God*s 
knowledge,  power  and  justice."  Since  human  society  cannot 
exist  without  mutual  confidence,  and  this  in-  turn  depends 
upon  truth,  the  oath  has  been  ordained  by  God  for  the  attain- 
ment of  both  these  ends.  To  guard  as  far  as  possible  against 
the  temptations  to  falsehood,  the  religious  sentiment  in  man 
is  brought  into  exercise,  and  the  conscience  is  surrounded  by 
all  those  motives  which  can  be  drawn  from  a  consideration  of 
God  and  of  His  retributive  justice.  The  juror  (the  term  be- 
ing taken  in  its  etymological,  not  its  technical  signification)  is 
cited  immediately  before  the  Di/ine  tribunal,  thut  in  view  of 
Him  who  reads  the  secrets  of  all  hearts,  and  is  pledged  to' 
punish  fraud  as  an  offence  against  His  authority,  he  may  have* 
the.  strongest  inducement  to  utter  the  truth.  This*  of  course, 
is  founded  upon  the  idea  that  human  government  itself  is  not 
only  an  ordinance  of  God,  but  that  it  is  a  dim  reflection  of 
the  Divine.  .  We  could  not,  indeed,  be-  subjects  of  human 
law,  if  we  were  not  antecedently  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  world.  Hence  lftmiaif  government  is 
not  only  divinely  ordained,  but  its  e  and  preservation 

depend  upon  those  religious  convictions  which  are  recognized 
in  the  divine  law.  With  all  l-he  temporal*:  auction.--  by  which 
it  strives  to  enforce  obedience,  its  control  over  human  conduct 
is  not  effectual  until  it. invokes  the  aid  of  conscience,  and 
thus  places  a  police  in  every  human  breast.  Its  strongest 
protection  is  found  m  the  oath  which  takes  hold  of  the  reli- 
gious natm  n.     It  can   rise  no  D 


14 

summons  us  into  the  presence  of  the  infinite  God,  and  sways 
His  awful  sceptre  over  the  soul  as  it  compels  our  testimony  in 
sight  of  those  tremendous  judgments  which  fence  around  the 
prerogatives  t>f  that  august  being.  Hence  moralists  have  not 
hesitated  to  describe  the  oath  as  a  twofold  covenant  made 
both  vith  society  and  with  God;  and  in  this  latter  aspect  it 
rises  into  the  solemnity  of  an  act  of  religious  worship.  Thus 
it  is  that  "men  swear  by  the  greater,  and  ah  oath  for  confir- 
mation is  to  them  an  end  of  all  strife."  The  pledge  of  ve- 
racity is  deposited  with  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  and  upon 
its  forfeiture  are  suspended  the  fearful  retributions  of  eternity* 
If  this  does  not  bind*  the  conscience,  nothing  can  bind,  and 
society  is  without  a  guarantee  for  that  truthfulness  upon  which 
human  intercourse  must  at  last  hinge. 

To  trifle,  therefore,  with  the  sanctity  of  the  oath,  is  to 
strike  a  fatal  blow  both  at  religion  and  at  law.  It  destroys' 
religion  by  weakening  the  sense  of  God's  presence  in  the 
feoul,  and  by  debauching  the  very  faculty  to  which  ail  her 
sanctions  are  addressed:  "he  that  cometh  unto  God  must  be- 
lieve that  He  is,  and  that  He  js.the  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him."  It  also  undermines  the  foundation  on 
which  civil  government  is  built  whiph  cannot  lose  its  hold 
upon  the  conscience  without  destroying  the  very  source  of  its 
authority.  No  increase  of  civil  penalties  can  compensate  for 
the  loss  of  this  moral  control ;  for,  besides  the  fact  that  every 
addition  to  the  criminal  legislation  of  a  country  only  increases 
the  friction  and  wears  out  the  machinery  of  government, 
there  are  many  offences  which'  cannot  be  reached  by  it;  and 
in  any  case  it  is  but  a  collateral  ^security  which  it  affords.  I 
freely  confess  my  alarm  at  the  ventilation  of  a  doctrine  which 
thus  summarily  dispenses  with  the  obligation  of  the  oath.  If 
it  be.  not  arrested,  the  most  complete  demoralization  of  our 


15 

people  must  ensue,  which  will  render  all  government  impossi- 
ble save*lhat  of  brute  physical  •force.  The  prevalence,  in- 
deed, of  this  corrupt  sentiment  is  the  remote  cause  of  all  the 
troubles  in  which  we  are  now  involved."  Covenants  and  trea- 
ties solemnly  instituted  by  our*  fore  fathers  were  no  longer  in- 
terpreted in  their  simple  and  obvious  meaning.  Ingenuity 
itself  was  put  to- the  torture  to  devise  expositions  which  should 
eviscerate  them  of  the  principles  which  they  were  ordained' 
to  conserve  until  at  length  our  modern  alchemists  found  in 
the  doctrine  of  "a  higher  law,"  the  mighty  solvent  which  de- 
stroyed the  power  of  oaths  and  covenants  at  once.  Men 
swore  with  due  solemnity  to  uphold  the  constitution  and  the 
laws,  but  with  a  mental  reservation  to. uproot  these  very  in- 
stitutions which  that  constitution  had  been  framed  to  defend  $ 
until  the  universal  perfidy  of  the  North  suddenly  burst  every 
ligature  by  which  the  States  were  held  together  in  the  Fede- 
ral Union.  Are  our  people  willing  to  walk  in  the  footsteps 
or  our  foes?  And  is  it  a  suitable  preparation  for  a  new  his- 
toric career  to  inoculate  this  young  nation  with  the  virus  of 
that  perfidy  which  has  already  destroyed  before  our  eyes  one 
of  the  most  colossal  governments  upon  earth?  Nor  is  it  dif- 
ficult to  trace  the  practical  operation  of  this  secret  poison  as 
it  diffuses  itself  through  the  body  politic.  If  the  juror  may 
swear  no  longer  u  hi+ani'mum  ~imponenti$y  but  according  to  a 
secret  intention  of  his  own,  then  he  alone  can  judge  when  or 
how  far. he  is  bound.  The  magistrate  may,  by  this  sweeping 
dispensation,  absolve  himself  from*  the  guilt  of  malfeasance 
in  office;  the  juryman  upon  the  panel -and  the  witness  upon 
the  stand  may  combine  to  defeat  all  the  ends  of  justice 
through  an  oath  which  open-  and  shuts  conveniently  at  the 
bidding  of  caprice,  until,  in  the  total  overfhrow.  of  morality, 
society  itself  shall  crumble  through  universal   distrust.     The 


« 

application  may  bo  ma<U-  to  the  very  parties-  whose  plea  we 
are  now.  considering.  They  swear  allegiance  to  thc*govern- 
n#ent  at  Washington,  raising  the  hand  to  heaven  in  attestation 
of  their  sincerity;  yet,  at  the.  same  moment,  they  require  us 
to  Delieve  .their  affirmation  of  loyalty  to  the  government  at 
Richmond.  Which  of  these  opposing  declarations  is  to  be. 
received  ?  Plainly,  this  cannot  be  determined  without  weigh- 
ing both  in  the  balance  of  probabilities;  but  as  far  as  their 
naked  word  is  concerned,  how  can  it  challenge  confidence 
when,  even  under  the  awful  .sanction  of  an  oath,  it  confesses 
to  wilful  falsehood?  Can  it  ever  be  lawful  for  men  to  place 
themselves  in  that  condition  of  disability  where  their  simple 
word  can  never  be. accepted  as  the  guage  of  truth?  This 
might  be* enforced  by' adverting  to  the  peril* incurred  by  sub-' 
scription  pf  the  Lincoln  oath.  .  Being,  registered  citizci 
the  United  Stajtes,  suppose  it  had  been  required  of  them  to 
bear  arms  against  their  brethren  of  the  South,  who  are  now 
battling- for  the  restoration  of  that  birthright  which,  in  an  <#il 
hour,  they  have  bartered  away  ?  And  what  hinders  it  but  the 
conviction  in  the  tyrant's  mind  that  they  cannot  be  trusted 
with  the  very  duties  which  their  oath  of  fealty  implies?  A 
conviction,  by  the  way,  which. involves  him  in  the  still  greater 
disgrace  of  compelling  an  oath  in  which  he  does  not  confide, 
but  which  also  shows  the  guilt  of  subscribing  it,  since  this 
alone  saves  from  the  most  fearful  crime. of  lilting  the.  hand 
against  the  mother  that  bore  them. 

I  come  now  to  the  secoftd  and.  entirely  distinct  line  of  de- 
fence raised  by  some  who  have  been  entangled'  in  the  snare; 
among  whom  arc  many' far  too  conscientious  to  assume  a  posi- 
tion "known. to  fee  fulse,  or  to  subscribe  an  oath  with  anything 
approaching  to  mental  reservation.  I  cannot  refrain,  in  pars- 
ing, from  the  remark   (hat;  upon   nil   questions  of  .honor""  and 


principle,  the  first  thought  of  an  honest  and  pure  mind  is  fhe 

tefestj  *for  in' this  the  instinct. of  manliness  and  truth  usually 

in.     The  second    i.       J  udence   is 

prom  '         tion  and 

tin  n  out  i  >  he  subterfuges  for  the  evasion  of  duty.  It  is  al- 
ii d  class,  that  the  control  and  protec- 
tion of  the  Confederacy  being,  through  the  fortunes  of  war, 
wholly  Buspenc^ecl,  upon  the  principle  of  submitting  to  the 
powers  th;:f  lie,  they  took  the* oath  to  the  only  authority  which 
1,  and  which  made  this  the  only  condition  upon 
which  it  protection  coujd  be  enjoyed.  1  hey  took  it  moie- 
over  in  good  faith,  intending  to  keey^jt  so  long  as  the  Fede- 
ral rule  should  .  but  in  the  hope  that  this  rule  would, 
in  elite  season,  terminate  and  restore  them^o  the  civil  connec- 
tions from  which  their  hearts  were  never  estranged.  This 
ion  Is  impregnable  so  far  as  a  <  Lod  to  mil- 
itary force  its  concerned..  Neither  the  laws  of  war  nor  those 
of  reason  oblige  men  'to  continue  a  factious  and  unavailing 
opposition  againfet  overwhelming  and  crushing  force;  and  no 
blame  could  attach  to  them  for  dimply  yielding  to  the  ri 
warfare,  which  con?. rets  with  ion  of  ac- 
tive hostility.  But  it  is  an  immense  ic^p  from  this  to  the 
making  of  "a  solemn  covenant,  transforming  into  a  govern- 
ment of  law  what  was  before  only  a  government  of  force;  for 
the  oath  of  allegiance  t.  I  with  the  citizenship  all  its* 
moral -obligations,  and  invested  the  authority  of  Butfer,  with 
the  sanctions  of  a  recognized  and  legal  government.  Had 
the«e  pa;\  >a€hed  the  Federal  commander  with  lan- 
;tially  this:  "as  a  .  o,  wholly 
within  ydffc  ..  \\uiry 
force,  and  without  conceding  this  submission  to  be  obedic: 
no  censure  could  attfUb  to   them;   amt  they  would   then    be 


.      18 

embraced  within  the  terms  of  the  eulogy  conveyed  in  the 
resolutions  you  have  presented  before  Congress.  If  it  be  said 
that  allegiance  was  the  only  condition  upon  which  protection 
would  be  afforded  to  property  and  life,  my  answer  is  that  the 
hazard  should  have  been  incurred  along  with  the  thousands 
who  chose  to  be  registered  as  alien  enemies  to  the  United 
States  father  than  forfeit  their  loyalty  to  the  South.  Actual 
submission  to  military  supremacy  was  all  that  could  be  de- 
manded of  them  by  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare;  and  it  was 
their  privilege  to  stand  upon  the  assertion  of  this  right  before 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  Notwithstanding  the  ghos%  terrors 
by  which  they  were  s^rounded,  the  government  at  Washing- 
ton dared  not,  under  the  eyes  of  mankind,  to  exact  more.  A 
few  victims  mighty  perhaps,  be  selected  from  the  mass,  upon 
whom  to  vent  disappointment  and  spleen,  and  a  firief  persis- 
tence in  tyranny  might  have  tested  the  endurance  of , 'the  com- 
munity; but  a  little  firmness  wTould  have  carried  them  over 
the  trial,  and  won  for  the  sufferers  an  immortality  of  glory; 
in  proof  of  which  I  adduce  the  fact,  ythat  wherever  else  in 
the  Confederacy  the  enemy  has  been  stoutly  defied,  with  all 
his  bluster,  he  has  been  compelled  to  yield  a  reluctant  acqui- 
esence  in  the  moral  pode  established  by  civilized' nations  for 
the  regulation  of  war. 

But  suppose  the  reverse ,of  this,  and  a  long  dispensation  of 
'suffering  to  ensue,  are  we  to  avow  the  doctrine  that  the  most 
cherished  convictions  of  the  soul  must  be  surrendered  upon 
the  pleaof  coercive  necessity.  I  will  put  the  argument  in  a. 
form  most  likely  to  be  appreciated  by  tne  Christian  men  who 
have  taken  refuge  under  this  plea^  Should  the  days  of  reli-  « 
gious  persecutions  again  appear,  would  it  be  right,  ?h  order  to  .. 
save  property  and  life,  to  abjure  Christianity  and  to  offer  sac-, 
rifices  upon  the  altar  %f  Jupiter,  as  w&  done  in  the  second 


19 

century?  The  frailty  of  human  nature  might  yield  now,  as 
it  did  then,  under  the  fiery  ordeal;  and  knowing  that  we  are 
men,  we  might  weep  tears  of  compassion,  nay,  almost  *of  for- 
gftenesS*  over  an  apostacy  thus  extorted.  But  what  judgment 
would  we  pronounce  upon  a  cool  argument  framed  to  justify 
this  defection  ?  If  we  could  be  brought  to  pardon  the  one, 
we  could  not  tolerate  the  other.  Yet,  after  all,  why  is  not 
the  argument  of  coercive  necessity  as  conclusive  in  this  case, 
as  in  that  we  are  now  considering?  I  freely  admit  the  dis- 
parity between  the  two;  in  that  one  relates  to  the  ^duties 
which. we  owe  to  man;  but  I  see  not  why  the  obligation  may 
not  be  as  imperative  to  abide  by  our  principles  in  the  one 
sphere  as  well  as  in  the  other — why  duty  to  our  country  may 
not  be  is  paramount  in  the  earthly  kingdom  as  duty  to  our 
God  is  in  the  spiritual  and  heavenly.  1  have  been  educated, 
sir,  in  a  school  which  regards  the  obligations  we  owe  to  coun- 
try as  only  next  to  those  which  we  owe  to  God.  Our  coun- 
try! what  doea  not  the#terni  embrace?  It  means  ouf  homes 
and  the  cheerful  firesides,  and  the  prattling  babes  that  gather 
jound  the  paternal  knee;  it  means  swe*ei  neighborhood  and 
friendship,  and  the  tender  charities  which -solace  life  from 
the  cradle  to  the  tomb;  it  means  the  memories  of  our  youth 
as  they  grow  fresh  again  in  the  twilight  of  age;  it  means  an- 
cestry and  the  proud  recollection  of  honored  sires,  who  be- 
queathed their  blessing  with  the  names  we  inherit;  it  means 
our  altars  and  sanctuaries  where  we  have  worshipped  God  and 
held  communion  with  his  saints  on  earth  ;  it  means  the  graves 
where  our  loved  ones  are  lying,  consecrated  by  the  tears  of  a 
bitter  parting  when  they  were  laid  out  of  sight  forever ;  it 
means  all  that  the  human  heart  can  remember  and  love ;  all 
the  associations  which  sprea'd  their  secret  network  over  human 
life  ;  all  tho  scattered  leaves  on  which  are  written  the  sorrows 


•  '    2fi  •  # 

and  the  joys  through  which  man  travels  onward  to"  lfcs  rest 
above:  Our  country  and  our  God!  'The  two  l>l£hd  evermore 
iirthe*Ohristian  patriot's  thought,  and  shall  it  be  said  there 
arc  no  martyrdoms  for  the  one,  when  the  gibbet-  and  *he  m#ie 
are  welcomed  for  the  other  ?  . 

True  heroism  may  be  displayed  in  endurance  not  less  than 
in  action;  and  our  fellow-citizens  in  Louisiana  enjoyed  a  most 
distinguished  opportunity  of  rendering  a  service  to  the  Con- 
federacy quite  as  valuable  as  that  of  the  army  in  the  field. 
Can  any  good  reason  be  assigned  why  they  should  not  run  the 
hazard  of  confiscation,  of*  imprisonment  and  of  death,  equally 
with  those  who  encountered  the  risk  of  capture,  of  wounds, 
and  of  death  upon  the  field  of  slaughter?  If  those  may  be 
justified  in  their  apostacy  because  of  the  perils  by  wind*  they 
were  surrounded,  why  may  not  these  be  justified  on  precisely 
the  same  grounds  for  declining  the  guage  of  battle  in  the 
presence  of  the  foe?  In  short,  the  plea  now  under  discus- 
sion serins  to  resolve  patriotism  into  an  affair  of  simple  con- 
track  The  inability  of  the  Confederacy  for  thc^  time  being 
to  protect  them,  is  ^'iewed  as  dissalymg  the'bond  between 
them  and  it;  and,  like  traders  in  the  market,  they  bargain 
with  another  party,  purchasing  protection  with  loyalty.  Upon 
this  pri-nciple  patriotism  is  a  word  without  moaning,  and  alla- 
gianco  becomes  the  sport  oT  accident  and  chance.  I  have  not 
the  heart  to  pursue  the  discussion  under  this  aspect.  I  can- 
not believe  that  our  friends  have  deliberately  brought  them- 
selves to  rest  in  this  bleak  and  desolate  conclusion.  By  the 
instin  t  which  recoils  from  it  let  them  detect  the  sophistry  of 
the  whole  plea  frcmi  which  it  is  deduced  by  the  rigor  of  a  re- 
morseless logic. 

I  close  this  long-  letter  by  suggesting  two .  considerations 
which  alone  should  have  deterred  these  iurors  from  subscribe 


-i 

m"  tJie  oath  in  question,     la  tlie  Ihvt  place  ite,iiBpdsition 
in  contravention  of  aright  whicli  ought  never  to  have  been 
conceded.     I  have  already -stated  that  the  acknowledged  !. 
o£  warfare  required  the  .subjugation  of 'the  whole,  before  tests 
of  loyalty  should  be  exacted  of  the  constituent  parts.     V\'hy  . 
was  not  the  attempt  to  establish  a  contrary  precedent,  full  of 
mischief  to  the  world  at   large,  promptly  met  with   a  manly 
protest  and  with  an  appeal  to  the  verdict  of  mankind?   Duty, 
not  to  their  country  alone  but  to  the  race  of  man,  forbade  the 
concession  of  such  a  claim.     In  the  second  place,  the  distinc- 
tive ground  on  which  this  war  is  waged  by  the  North  is,  that 
the  South  has  embarked  in  a  wicked  rebellion,  upon  crushing 
which  the  very  life  of  the  aation  depends.     It  totally  ignores 
the  authority  of  sovereign  States  intervening  between  tl>e  cit- 
izen .and  the  central  power,  and  simply  for  this  reason  an  oath 
of  allegiance  is  exacted  of  individuals.     A  monstrous  despo- 
tism has  grown  up  whicli  swallows  up  all  the  States  alive,  and 
treats  their  jurisdiction  as  no  morS  than  that  of  a  municipal 
corporation.     Are  the  jurors  in  Louisiana  willing  to  lend  the 
"sanction  of  their  names  to  a  doctrine  which  has  already  con- 
verted'the  freest  government  on   earth  into  the  most  corrupt 
and  reckless  despotism  upon  which  the  sun  ever  slione?  And  • 
are  they  prepared  to  brand  with  the  infamy  of  rebellion  that 
sacred  cause  for  which  their  own  brothers  and  their  own  sons 
arc  perilling  life  and  limb  upon  many  a  fjpld  of  battle?    Yet  , 
the  oath    they  have   sworn   sanctions  this   foul   calumny  pro- 
nounced against   the  heroes  and  the  martyis  of  their  own 
blood. 

Could  my  voice,  sir,  be  heard  in  Louisiana,  I  would  s&y  to 
those  who  once  listened  to  me  with  affection  and  respect,  can- 
cel this  dreadful  oath.  Before  it  is  too  late,  retrieve  your  po- 
sition by  a  bold  and  manly  retraction.  Before,  this  war  rushes 


